Does the finepix really produce that much noise? If so, I am glad I went with a Sony Cybershot DSC-H20. Another Photo stitching program that I use is called Hugin. It is a free and I think open source stitcher and it works quite well. What was the final resolution of this work you made? Not all photos need to follow the Rule of Thirds because it really depends on how the photo(s) were composed overall. I think you did a great job because you got enough of the sky and enough of the street to show a good mood in the image. I especially like the clouds in this one, I am not sure why, but they just look really cool. I liked it, great work. Nice to see such a combination of software to make one piece of art.